by Emmanuel S. Tipon, Esq. On August 11, 2025, House Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno of Antipolo City delivered a privilege speech, calling for a constitutional convention to address what he termed “enduring ambiguities” in the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
More specifically he wanted to have a definition of the word “forthwith” in ARTICLE XI, Accountability of Public Officers, Section (4) which reads: In case the verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed.
The Oxford Dictionary defines “forthwith” as “immediately; without delay.” But the definitions are equally ambiguous.
The ambiguity can only be removed by specifying the number of days from the receipt of the articles of impeachment by the Senate when the trial shall proceed.
Puno contended that a Constitutional Convention (ConCon) is the “most prudent, transparent, and participatory mechanism” to correct these textual deficiencies, reconcile contradictions, and remove ambiguities.
If that is his goal, the Preamble alone contains numerous ambiguities. The Preamble reads:
“We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order to build a just and humane society and establish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.”
Consider the following: “just and humane society,” “our ideals and aspirations,” “common good,” “rule of law,” “regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace.”
Are they going to define all of these? Why all of a sudden did Rep. Puno call for a Constitutional Convention?
Because the Senate did not “forthwith” try the Articles of Impeachment that was transmitted by the House Secretary to the Senate at 4:47 p.m. on February 5, 2025. Senate President Francis Escudero said that the Senate was adjourning that day for the congressional recess.
Rep. Sandro Marcos Torpedoes Proposal Newly installed House Majority Leader, Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos torpedoed the proposal, saying that he believes that it is the “wrong time” to talk about the proposed creation of a constitutional convention (Concon).
“Nasa budget pa lang tayo (We are still with the budget), let’s not bring that up. It’s the wrong time and the wrong place,” Rep. Marcos said.
Why Not Spend The Money For A ConCon To Help The Poor, Especially The Typhoon Victims If a Constitutional Convention is called, when will the election for its members take place?
What are the qualifications for membership? Can the incumbent members of Congress run for membership? Will they forfeit their seats in Congress if they run? If they do not run themselves, will their relatives run?
How many millions of pesos will be budgeted for the Constitutional Convention? The Filipino people have been suffering from a succession of typhoons that have hit the Philippines, particularly in Luzon.
Why not spend the money to assist them in their recovery?
Opening A Can Of Worms When or if a Concon is held, do you think it will limit itself to defining ambiguous words and phrases like “forthwith”?
Of course not. It will be like opening the proverbial can of worms. It will be open season for changing any provision or adding various provisions.
You can expect a proposal to allow the current president, Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to run for reelection. He is the most competent. He will win hands down. I will campaign for him.
Who Is The Front Runner For The Presidency In 2028? If there is no Concon, or if the new Constitution that the Concon adopts will not change the term of the president, or if the new constitution is not ratified by the people, who will run in the May 2028 presidential election, and who is the frontrunner?
These are the possible top contenders: Vice President Sara Duterte, Former Vice President Leni Robredo, Sen. Bong Go, Sen. Raffy Tulfo, Senate President Francis Escudero, and Speaker Martin Romualdez.
According to a 2028 Presidential Survey called Tangere Survey, which was done on May 20-21, 2025, Sara is slightly ahead of Leni.
Sara, assuming that she is not impeached and convicted, has the Duterte bloc, which includes 7 senators. She is expected to win in Mindanao. She and Leni will fight it out in the Visayan Islands.
Leni has the following advantages. She has served as Vice President. She has experience running for President.
She is generally clean with no political baggage. She will win the Bicol region, especially if Escudero does not run. She will split the Visayan Islands with Sara. Luzon is no man’s land.
The result of the May 9, 2022, elections showed Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. obtained 31,124,192 votes equivalent to 58.92%, while Leni Robredo obtained 14,795,894 votes equivalent to 28.01%. Leni will start with this base.
On the other hand, Sara Duterte won as vice president as the running mate of Marcos, Jr., with 31,426,635 votes. However, not all these people will vote for her. Millions were brought by Marcos. If Bong Go persists in running, he will drain millions of Duterte voters.
Who will be their vice-presidential running mate? For Leni, in all likelihood, it will be Francis Pangilinan again who got 9,222,084 votes when he ran under the Liberal Party. For Sara, in all likelihood, it will be Imee Marcos, who is a member of the Nacionalista Party.
However, this survey does not appear to include other presidentiables candidates, such as the First Lady, Mrs. Marie Louise “Liza” Cacho Araneta Marcos. If Liza runs, she will be a very formidable candidate.
To begin with, she will win the Ilocano votes. She will win in Iloilo and Negros Occidental, where her father was born and grew up. She will win in Leyte and Samar because Speaker Martin Romualdez will no longer run. She will win in Manila, where she was born.
Full disclosure: I appointed Mrs. Liza Marcos as a professor of law when I was the Dean of the College of Law of Northwestern University in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte. Her husband, Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., was the Governor of Ilocos Norte. She is a very competent teacher. She had outlines of the courses she taught and was very articulate. She was well-liked by everybody, especially her fellow teachers and students. I will be campaigning for her.
ATTY. EMMANUEL TIPON has a Master of Laws degree from Yale Law School and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines. His current practice focuses on immigration law and appellate criminal defense. He writes law books for the world’s largest law book publishing company and writes legal articles for newspapers. Atty. Tipon served as a U.S. Immigration Officer. He co-authored the best-seller “Immigration Law Service, 1st ed.,” an 8-volume practice guide for immigration officers and lawyers. Listen to him on KNDI radio in Honolulu, 1270 AM dial, every Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Atty. Tipon was born in Laoag City, Philippines. Cell Phone (808) 225-2645. E-Mail: filamlaw@yahoo.com. This article is a general overview of the subject matter discussed and is not intended as legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is established between the writer and readers relying upon the contents of this article.
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